CT Elementary School Shooting - WTF?!?

[spitball]

I have no idea how suggesting that there should be armed guards at a school is controversial... to anyone.

The long and short of it is that this guy was flat out nuts. He tried to get a gun legally and was rebuffed. His own mother's negligence was what allowed this to yet. BUT the suggestion that he'd have not pursued any alternatives is simply naive. The kid would've stolen someone else's guns, or maybe even built an explosive device. Propane canister plus lighter equals potentially hundreds of casualties.

You can't stop crazy and pure evil with mere laws. Force must often be met with force.

one view; from a tpm reader;



" I want to say this now before I forget to mention it, because I truly believe that people who think that "if only the teachers were armed, or they had armed security guards or police officers, things would be different."

I never fired a weapon in my life until shortly before I entered the Marine Corps. It was part of a Delayed Entry Program event that we attended, and it was roughly six months after I entered boot camp on August of 2001. As many of you who know a Marine or two, you will know that amongst the many mottos, sayings, and jokes that are out there about us, there is one thing that is hammered home from day one; "every Marine is a basic Rifleman." And it still rings true, because in the four years that I was in, I had all types of different forms of training(I was in the infantry-Heavy Machine Gunner) and I went through a good majority of these trainings, such as low-light target acquisition, MOUT(military operations on urban terrain), and other training.

With that being said, I've had to engage moving targets because I did two combat tours in Iraq. Let me tell you one thing, it is one of the most difficult things you can do, no matter how hard you train. Now, let's kick this up a notch, and throw in the fact that your adrenaline is pumping. And your hands are shaking. And you are breathing heavily. And there are innocent people moving all about in the background. Needless to say, this is a recipe for disaster. I could only imagine how things would have turned out in Aurora or Newtown if you had people running around with loaded weapons and their adrenaline pumping. Hell, I would be afraid to pull the trigger, and I was a certified instructor.

I taught my wife how to shoot(she's pretty good at it, BTW, and it was the first time she ever touched, let alone fired a gun), and I plan on teaching my son to shoot when he becomes responsible enough to do so. But, I do not believe that more guns are the solution to this problem, because they would end up making the situation worse, and the body count much higher. We wouldn't suggest that firefighters use gasoline and TNT to put out a fire, and we wouldn't suggest more bleeding for the patient who has been bled half to death, so why would we suggest that more guns are a solution to a problem that is caused by the easy flow of firearms? "

[Pengwin7]

Let me tell you one thing, it is one of the most difficult things you can do, no matter how hard you train. Now, let's kick this up a notch, and throw in the fact that your adrenaline is pumping. And your hands are shaking. And you are breathing heavily. And there are innocent people moving all about in the background. Needless to say, this is a recipe for disaster.

Well said.

This reminds me of the scene in Unforgiven when Munny & the kid talk about firing a gun. The scene outside the town that, IMO, really helped make it a great movie.
(Not to derail the thread, but it was a pretty good scene with a pretty fair point.)
(I own a hockey shaft under my bed that is my defense. I do not own a gun.)

[doulos]

I'm so glad I live where I do. I don't carry any protective gear in my house and I have fantastic neighbours that watch over it when we are gone. My kids can walk to school (when it's not too COLD to do so), and we do old fashioned things like Christmas tree lightups and block parties. Most people wouldn't want to live in a smaller city like this, up in the north, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Hopefully the US will get things figured out as soon as possible.

[Gaborlick]

I think media sensationalism is as much to blame if not more, than gun control in all of this.

I remember perhaps a decade ago in Toronto, there was one summer where there was a series of subway incidents involving people pushing others into the tracks. This happened 4-5 times in a span of a couple of weeks, until the cops finally got their heads out of their asses and realized that all the media attention was motivating other crazy copy-cats to come out of hiding in a bid to grab their 15 minutes of fame. As soon as the media went into blackout, it stopped.

I think Morgan Freeman's comments yesterday capture it best:

MORGAN FREEMAN ON THE SHOOTINGS YESTERDAY:

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations*, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

Freeman stated today he never made the statement referenced above.

[Pengwin7]

Freeman stated today he never made the statement referenced above.

I read it was Freeman's publicist that issued that statement (for him).
But yeah... my wife's Facebook yesterday was littered with people linking & liking that post yesterday. {shaking head}
Amazing how many sources will jump on a story just to have product to post.

[dongjohnson]

The more time that elapses, the more I blame the media, as a definite contributing factor, for mass shootings. Maybe I'm the most cynical person there is but with how much they sell the story, how can it not put the thought in someone else's mind?

[spitball]

The more time that elapses, the more I blame the media, as a definite contributing factor, for mass shootings. Maybe I'm the most cynical person there is but with how much they sell the story, how can it not put the thought in someone else's mind?

certainly don't help;

http://mamabythebay.com/

[Call of Doughty]

Heard via CNN on ride home tonight that sales of the Bushmaster rifle are going through the roof!! People want to buy one of these guns before stricter laws/licenses are imposed upon these types of home rifles.

I nearly drove off the road!! What the frack.....

Some people are just not getting the message..

[Shoeless]

The more time that elapses, the more I blame the media, as a definite contributing factor, for mass shootings. Maybe I'm the most cynical person there is but with how much they sell the story, how can it not put the thought in someone else's mind?

The media would soon dry up if they didn't have customers buying. "We has met the enemy and he is us." - Ogo Pogo

[Gaborlick]

Heard via CNN on ride home tonight that sales of the Bushmaster rifle are going through the roof!! People want to buy one of these guns before stricter laws/licenses are imposed upon these types of home rifles.

I nearly drove off the road!! What the frack.....

Some people are just not getting the message..

after every major shooting everyone tries to restrict guns...it never happens...

[dongjohnson]

So the Mom was thinking over whether or not to commit him? She sure as hell waited too long. And why the hell leave guns strewn about if you know he's off the deep end? Seriously, I don't mean to insult the dead but this has her name written on it in terms of culpability.

[One87]

So the Mom was thinking over whether or not to commit him? She sure as hell waited too long. And why the hell leave guns strewn about if you know he's off the deep end? Seriously, I don't mean to insult the dead but this has her name written on it in terms of culpability.

He obviously had mental issues. My problem is, if the mom knew, why teach the kid how to shoot? If he wws getting worse, why were the firearms still accessible to him?

[NoWayOut]

He obviously had mental issues. My problem is, if the mom knew, why teach the kid how to shoot? If he wws getting worse, why were the firearms still accessible to him?

Two words, parental love. The bond between family members, especially parents and children, can be so strong that it blinds us to our loved ones faults. Or at the very least to the true scope or depth of those faults.

[One87]

Two words, parental love. The bond between family members, especially parents and children, can be so strong that it blinds us to our loved ones faults. Or at the very least to the true scope or depth of those faults.

I hear you. It's a bit frustrating to hear her friends say how "safe" and "responsible" she was. I know every person is different and that hindsight is 20/20, but I have a hard time seeing me in her shoes, wanting to teach my "mentally - ill" child how to shoot. I actually would be worried that he would hurt himself or someone else.

[dmvincent]

During the presidential election, I don't recall anyone talking about the issue of gun control in the United States. Everyone was talking about the economy and a possible recession. The fact is, there is no gun control in the US. Its written in the US Constitution that Americans have the right to bear Arms.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

As said as this sounds, these awful shootings will continue to happen in the US if they don't do something about the gun control. Its incredibly sad because the gunman killed many people, but he also hurt god knows how many people emotionally.

I sincerely hope that all the kids and their families can get through this.